Taeniopygia guttata

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Jeffrey Cynx - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Social mediation of vocal amplitude in a songbird, Taeniopygia guttata
    Animal Behaviour, 2004
    Co-Authors: Jeffrey Cynx, Christy Gell
    Abstract:

    Bird vocalizations are produced under various social contexts. It could therefore benefit birds, as social contexts change, to alter the amplitude of their signals. We tested this by recording male and female zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata, when they were placed in isolation, in auditory contact, and in visual and auditory contact with each sex. The majority of females increased call amplitude only when in auditory contact with either sex. Most males increased both song and call amplitudes only when in visual and auditory contact with either sex. We found no changes in patterns of harmonic suppression (timbre) for males or females across social conditions. One explanation for the sex difference is that females increase amplitude for affiliative reasons, whereas males increase amplitude to advertise fitness.

  • Effects of humidity on reproductive behavior in male and female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata).
    Journal of comparative psychology (Washington D.C. : 1983), 2001
    Co-Authors: Jeffrey Cynx
    Abstract:

    Zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) are regarded as opportunistic breeders with reproductive behaviors mediated by short-term proximal environmental conditions. This article provides experimental evidence for the role of humidity in reproductive behaviors. Zebra finches were subjected to experimentally manipulated high levels of relative humidity. Males gathered more nest material and sang more. Females showed no relationship between humidity and gathering nest materials, egg laying, or changes in rates of vocalization.

  • amplitude regulation of vocalizations in noise by a songbird Taeniopygia guttata
    Animal Behaviour, 1998
    Co-Authors: Jeffrey Cynx, Rebekah Lewis, Benjamin Tavel, Hanson Tse
    Abstract:

    Abstract Bird vocalizations are produced under various noise conditions. It could therefore benefit birds to alter the amplitude of their signals as noise conditions change. We tested this by recording male and female zebra finches,Taeniopygia guttata, as they were subjected to various levels of white noise. Both sexes increased amplitude levels of vocalization in response to increased levels of noise. Similar results were obtained with humans (the ‘Lombard effect’). The results are discussed in terms of the ‘active space’ of bird song and honest signalling.

  • Conspecific song perception in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata).
    Journal of comparative psychology (Washington D.C. : 1983), 1993
    Co-Authors: Jeffrey Cynx
    Abstract:

    Adult male and female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), previously trained with operant conditioning to discriminate between conspecific songs, were tested to determine their dependence on 2 properties of songs, the presence of song syllables and the temporal order of songs. The removal of song syllables disrupted discrimination performance but usually only if the stimulus was the bird's own song. All birds initially failed to identify reversed songs correctly, but males relearned discriminations with reversed songs in fewer trials than did females. The results suggest that there are 3 levels of song perception: a bird's own song, other males' songs as processed by males, and songs as processed by females. Each of these levels correlates with the known electrophysiological and neuroanatomical properties of the song system and with the natural history of song.

  • Role of gender, season, and familiarity in discrimination of conspecific song by zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata)
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 1992
    Co-Authors: Jeffrey Cynx, Fernando Nottebohm
    Abstract:

    Abstract Operant conditioning techniques were used to assess how gender and song familiarity affect song discrimination in adult zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). Twenty-five males and females, divided into five cohorts, were trained to discriminate between conspecific songs at different times of year. Males discriminating between their own and another song from their own aviary reached criterion in the fewest number of trials, followed by males discriminating between two songs from their own aviary, then by males discriminating between songs they had not heard before. Females discriminating between two songs from their own aviary required more trials than males to reach criterion, but, unlike in males, song familiarity did not have a significant effect on song discrimination by females. The number of trials required to reach criterion was greater in winter than in summer, suggesting a photoperiodic effect in what has been regarded as a nonphotoperiodic species. Gender, season, and familiarity appear to affect how zebra finches discriminate between conspecific songs.

Mark Erno Hauber - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • the disassociation of visual and acoustic conspecific cues decreases discrimination by female zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata
    Journal of Comparative Psychology, 2009
    Co-Authors: Dana L.m. Campbell, Mark Erno Hauber
    Abstract:

    Female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) use visual and acoustic traits for accurate recognition of male conspecifics. Evidence from video playbacks confirms that both sensory modalities are important for conspecific and species discrimination, but experimental evidence of the individual roles of these cue types affecting live conspecific recognition is limited. In a spatial paradigm to test discrimination, the authors used live male zebra finch stimuli of 2 color morphs, wild-type (conspecific) and white with a painted black beak (foreign), producing 1 of 2 vocalization types: songs and calls learned from zebra finch parents (conspecific) or cross-fostered songs and calls learned from Bengalese finch (Lonchura striata vars. domestica) foster parents (foreign). The authors found that female zebra finches consistently preferred males with conspecific visual and acoustic cues over males with foreign cues, but did not discriminate when the conspecific and foreign visual and acoustic cues were mismatched. These results indicate the importance of both visual and acoustic features for female zebra finches when discriminating between live conspecific males.

  • Cross-fostering diminishes song discrimination in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata).
    Animal cognition, 2009
    Co-Authors: Dana L.m. Campbell, Mark Erno Hauber
    Abstract:

    Song-production, -discrimination, and -preferences in oscine birds are dually influenced by species identity and the ontogenetic environment. The cross-fostering of a model species for recognition research, the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) into heterospecific nests of the Bengalese finch (Lonchura striata vars. domestica) allows an exploration of the sensory limits of early development and the effects of species-specific acoustic cues upon song discrimination in adulthood. To quantify the song preferences of female and male normal-reared (control) and Bengalese finch fostered zebra finches, we recorded multiple behavioral measures, including spatial proximity, vocalization rates and response latency, during sequential song-playback choice-trials using both tutor species’ songs and the songs of two other ecologically relevant Australian species, the owl finch (Taeniopygia bichenovii) and the star finch (Neochmia ruficauda). Response strength was variable between the different measures, but no differences were detected within the specific behavioral responses towards the song playbacks of the two sexes. Control subjects strongly preferred their own species’ songs while Bengalese-fostered zebra finches exhibited reduced song discrimination between con-, tutor-, and heterospecific songs. Overall behavioral responsiveness was also modulated by social ontogeny. These results indicate a difference in the strength of preference for song that is dependent on the species identity of the rearing environment in oscine birds and illustrate the role of multiple behavioral measures and ecologically relevant stimulus species selection in behavioral research using zebra finches.

  • The Strength of Species Recognition in Captive Female Zebra Finches (Taeniopygia guttata): A Comparison Across Estrildid Heterospecifics
    Ethology, 2009
    Co-Authors: Dana L.m. Campbell, Rachael C. Shaw, Mark Erno Hauber
    Abstract:

    Conspecific recognition is essential for sexually reproducing species. Captive zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) are a model system in which the behavioural, ontogenetic and neurobiological bases of own-species (conspecific) recognition have been studied in detail. To assess the potential role of phylogeographic effects on species recognition, we examined the spatial preferences of unmated captive-bred female zebra finches between unfamiliar captive males of conspecific and estrildid heterospecific male stimuli. In accordance with prior studies using domesticated Bengalese finches (Lonchura striata vars. domestica), we found significant spatial and behavioural preference for conspecific males by female zebra finches, irrespective of heterospecific male phylogeographic origin mating status, or individual behaviour. This result has ramifications for the interpretation of social and mate preferences in this model species as it implies a consistency of species discrimination by captive female zebra finches.

Fernando Nottebohm - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Role of gender, season, and familiarity in discrimination of conspecific song by zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata)
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 1992
    Co-Authors: Jeffrey Cynx, Fernando Nottebohm
    Abstract:

    Abstract Operant conditioning techniques were used to assess how gender and song familiarity affect song discrimination in adult zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). Twenty-five males and females, divided into five cohorts, were trained to discriminate between conspecific songs at different times of year. Males discriminating between their own and another song from their own aviary reached criterion in the fewest number of trials, followed by males discriminating between two songs from their own aviary, then by males discriminating between songs they had not heard before. Females discriminating between two songs from their own aviary required more trials than males to reach criterion, but, unlike in males, song familiarity did not have a significant effect on song discrimination by females. The number of trials required to reach criterion was greater in winter than in summer, suggesting a photoperiodic effect in what has been regarded as a nonphotoperiodic species. Gender, season, and familiarity appear to affect how zebra finches discriminate between conspecific songs.

  • Testosterone facilitates some conspecific song discriminations in castrated zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata).
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 1992
    Co-Authors: Jeffrey Cynx, Fernando Nottebohm
    Abstract:

    Abstract An experiment was designed to test for the influence of testosterone on song discriminations. We found that testosterone did have an effect, which interacted with practice and the nature of the stimuli. Fourteen adult castrated zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) were grouped into seven pairs. In each pair, one bird was implanted with a testosterone-filled silastic tube and the other was implanted with an empty silastic tube. They were then trained on a go/no-go operant task to discriminate between bird songs in six consecutive experiments. The songs to be discriminated were as follows: experiment 1, two canary song segments; experiment 2, the bird's own song and that of the other member of the pair; experiment 3, the same two songs as in experiment 2 but with reversed stimulus-response contingencies; experiment 4, two other zebra finch songs; experiment 5, another two zebra finch songs; and experiment 6, another two canary song segments. There were no reliable learning differences between birds treated with testosterone or with an empty silastic in experiments 1 and 3-6. However, in experiment 2, testosterone-treated birds mastered the discrimination between their own song and the song of the other member of the pair in fewer trials than birds treated with empty silastics. We suggest that a song's ability to control the behavior of male zebra finches is influenced by the nature of the song, prior experience with the training paradigm, and hormone levels.

Dana L.m. Campbell - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Behavioural correlates of female zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) responses to multimodal species recognition cues
    Ethology Ecology & Evolution, 2010
    Co-Authors: Dana L.m. Campbell, Mark E. Hauber
    Abstract:

    Successful sexual reproduction requires accurate mate selection, including correct species recognition. When studying multimodal species recognition cues, uncorrelated presentations of visual and acoustic traits can be valuable tools for investigating the relative importance of various sensory modalities in the recognition process. Using a model system for species recognition research, the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), we investigated captive-bred females' behavioural responses to video and acoustic playbacks of male conspecific or phylogeographically relevant heterospecific cues. Females consistently spatially preferred conspecific cues when acoustic and visual cues were presented together or acoustic-only cues were played back. In contrast, females showed no discrimination when visual cues only were available and when the visual and acoustic cues of stimulus species were experimentally mismatched. Subjects showed significant individual variation in their attentiveness to playback stimulus types. Th...

  • the disassociation of visual and acoustic conspecific cues decreases discrimination by female zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata
    Journal of Comparative Psychology, 2009
    Co-Authors: Dana L.m. Campbell, Mark Erno Hauber
    Abstract:

    Female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) use visual and acoustic traits for accurate recognition of male conspecifics. Evidence from video playbacks confirms that both sensory modalities are important for conspecific and species discrimination, but experimental evidence of the individual roles of these cue types affecting live conspecific recognition is limited. In a spatial paradigm to test discrimination, the authors used live male zebra finch stimuli of 2 color morphs, wild-type (conspecific) and white with a painted black beak (foreign), producing 1 of 2 vocalization types: songs and calls learned from zebra finch parents (conspecific) or cross-fostered songs and calls learned from Bengalese finch (Lonchura striata vars. domestica) foster parents (foreign). The authors found that female zebra finches consistently preferred males with conspecific visual and acoustic cues over males with foreign cues, but did not discriminate when the conspecific and foreign visual and acoustic cues were mismatched. These results indicate the importance of both visual and acoustic features for female zebra finches when discriminating between live conspecific males.

  • Cross-fostering diminishes song discrimination in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata).
    Animal cognition, 2009
    Co-Authors: Dana L.m. Campbell, Mark Erno Hauber
    Abstract:

    Song-production, -discrimination, and -preferences in oscine birds are dually influenced by species identity and the ontogenetic environment. The cross-fostering of a model species for recognition research, the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) into heterospecific nests of the Bengalese finch (Lonchura striata vars. domestica) allows an exploration of the sensory limits of early development and the effects of species-specific acoustic cues upon song discrimination in adulthood. To quantify the song preferences of female and male normal-reared (control) and Bengalese finch fostered zebra finches, we recorded multiple behavioral measures, including spatial proximity, vocalization rates and response latency, during sequential song-playback choice-trials using both tutor species’ songs and the songs of two other ecologically relevant Australian species, the owl finch (Taeniopygia bichenovii) and the star finch (Neochmia ruficauda). Response strength was variable between the different measures, but no differences were detected within the specific behavioral responses towards the song playbacks of the two sexes. Control subjects strongly preferred their own species’ songs while Bengalese-fostered zebra finches exhibited reduced song discrimination between con-, tutor-, and heterospecific songs. Overall behavioral responsiveness was also modulated by social ontogeny. These results indicate a difference in the strength of preference for song that is dependent on the species identity of the rearing environment in oscine birds and illustrate the role of multiple behavioral measures and ecologically relevant stimulus species selection in behavioral research using zebra finches.

  • The Strength of Species Recognition in Captive Female Zebra Finches (Taeniopygia guttata): A Comparison Across Estrildid Heterospecifics
    Ethology, 2009
    Co-Authors: Dana L.m. Campbell, Rachael C. Shaw, Mark Erno Hauber
    Abstract:

    Conspecific recognition is essential for sexually reproducing species. Captive zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) are a model system in which the behavioural, ontogenetic and neurobiological bases of own-species (conspecific) recognition have been studied in detail. To assess the potential role of phylogeographic effects on species recognition, we examined the spatial preferences of unmated captive-bred female zebra finches between unfamiliar captive males of conspecific and estrildid heterospecific male stimuli. In accordance with prior studies using domesticated Bengalese finches (Lonchura striata vars. domestica), we found significant spatial and behavioural preference for conspecific males by female zebra finches, irrespective of heterospecific male phylogeographic origin mating status, or individual behaviour. This result has ramifications for the interpretation of social and mate preferences in this model species as it implies a consistency of species discrimination by captive female zebra finches.

Tim R. Birkhead - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Differential sperm storage by female zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata.
    Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2017
    Co-Authors: Nicola Hemmings, Tim R. Birkhead
    Abstract:

    When females mate promiscuously, female sperm storage provides scope to bias the fertilization success towards particular males via the non-random acceptance and utilization of sperm. The difficulties observing post-copulatory processes within the female reproductive tract mean that the mechanisms underlying cryptic female choice remain poorly understood. Here, we use zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata, selected for divergent sperm lengths, combined with a novel technique for isolating and extracting sperm from avian sperm storage tubules (SSTs), to test the hypothesis that sperm from separate ejaculates are stored differentially by female birds. We show that sperm from different inseminations enter different SSTs in the female reproductive tract, resulting in almost complete segregation of the sperm of competing males. We propose that non-random acceptance of sperm into SSTs, reflected in this case by sperm phenotype, provides a mechanism by which long sperm enjoy enhanced fertilization success in zebra finches.

  • a comparison of snps and microsatellites as linkage mapping markers lessons from the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata
    BMC Genomics, 2010
    Co-Authors: A. H. Ball, Jessica Stapley, Deborah A Dawson, Terry Burke, Tim R. Birkhead, Jon Slate
    Abstract:

    Background Genetic linkage maps are essential tools when searching for quantitative trait loci (QTL). To maximize genome coverage and provide an evenly spaced marker distribution a combination of different types of genetic marker are sometimes used. In this study we created linkage maps of four zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) chromosomes (1, 1A, 2 and 9) using two types of marker, Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) and microsatellites. To assess the effectiveness and accuracy of each kind of marker we compared maps built with each marker type separately and with both types of marker combined. Linkage map marker order was validated by making comparisons to the assembled zebra finch genome sequence.

  • Mitochondrial haplotype does not affect sperm velocity in the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata.
    Journal of evolutionary biology, 2009
    Co-Authors: Jim A. Mossman, Jon Slate, Tim R. Birkhead
    Abstract:

    Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation has been suggested as a possible cause of variation in male fertility because sperm activity is tightly coupled to mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and ATP production, both of which are sensitive to mtDNA mutations. Since male-specific phenotypes such as sperm have no fitness consequences for mitochondria due to maternal mitochondrial (and mtDNA) inheritance, mtDNA mutations that are deleterious in males but which have negligible or no fitness effect in females can persist in populations. How often such mutations arise and persist is virtually unknown. To test whether there were associations between mtDNA variation and sperm performance, we haplotyped 250 zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata from a large pedigreed-population and measured sperm velocity using computer-assisted sperm analysis. Using quantitative genetic ‘animal’ models, we found no effect of mtDNA haplotype on sperm velocity. Therefore, there is no evidence that in this system mitochondrial mutations have asymmetric fitness effects on males and females, leading to genetic variation in male fertility that is blind to natural selection.

  • a linkage map of the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata provides new insights into avian genome evolution
    Genetics, 2008
    Co-Authors: Jessica Stapley, Terry Burke, Tim R. Birkhead, Jon Slate
    Abstract:

    Passeriformes are the largest order of birds and one of the most widely studied groups in evolutionary biology and ecology. Until recently genomic tools in passerines relied on chicken genomic resources. Here we report the construction and analysis of a whole-genome linkage map for the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) using a 354-bird pedigree. The map contains 876 SNPs dispersed across 45 linkage groups and we found only a few instances of interchromosomal rearrangement between the zebra finch and the chicken genomes. Interestingly, there was a greater than expected degree of intrachromosomal rearrangements compared to the chicken, suggesting that gene order is not conserved within avian chromosomes. At 1068 cM the map is approximately only one quarter the length of the chicken linkage map, providing further evidence that the chicken has an unusually high recombination rate. Male and female linkage-map lengths were similar, suggesting no heterochiasmy in the zebra finch. This whole-genome map is the first for any passerine and a valuable tool for the zebra finch genome sequence project and for studies of quantitative trait loci.

  • Parthenogenesis in a passerine bird, the Zebra Finch Taeniopygia guttata
    Ibis, 2007
    Co-Authors: Elske Schut, Nicola Hemmings, Tim R. Birkhead
    Abstract:

    Parthenogenesis is defined as cell division in a female gamete without any genetic contribution from the male (Beatty 1967, Rougier & Werb 2001). When such cell division results in the development of an embryo parthenogenesis is known as ‘virgin birth’. Parthenogenesis occurs naturally in certain plants and animals and in the latter is most frequent among invertebrates (e.g. aphids and Daphnia ). Among vertebrates parthenogenetic development occurs in a small number of fish and reptile species (Soumalainen 1948, Watts et al . 2006) and has been recorded occasionally in mammals, including humans (Rougier & Werb 2001, Kono et al . 2004). Parthenogenetic development in birds was first reported in the domestic fowl Gallus domesticus (Oellacher 1872), but was also discovered in the domestic pigeon Columba livia (Bartelmez & Riddle 1924) and the domestic turkey Meleagris gallopavo (Olsen & Marsden 1954). In all three bird species parthenogenetic development was disorganised and almost always abortive. In the chicken, parthenogenetic development was relatively infrequent (< 5% of eggs) with only a single record of a parthenogenetic adult fowl (Sarvella 1973). Parthenogenesis was more common in the turkey (up to 20% of eggs; Olsen & Marsden 1954, Savage & Harper 1986) and by selective breeding an entire strain of parthenogenetic birds, all of which were male and some of which produced fertile spermatozoa, was produced (Olsen 1975). Parthenogenetic development has not been previously reported in any passerine birds (Johnson 2000). Here we report the occurrence of parthenogenetic development in the Zebra Finch Taeniopygia guttata . CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING PARTHENOGENETIC DEVELOPMENT